Augustana Seniors Fall 1884: Martin Peter Osterholm

Martin Peter Osterholm was a senior at Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois, in the fall of 1884. His name appears in the college catalog of 1884 – 1885, along with his birthplace, the year of his birth, and a few other facts. From this start, we researched the genealogy and family history of Martin P. Osterholm. This paper contains a short biography of Osterholm, a report on his ancestors, a report on his descendants, and some open questions for further research

Education Evolution: A Qualitative Study of Student Perception

The educational imperative of textbooks was examined for university business students. 82 students were interviewed to determine their perceptions of textbooks and the factors that affect their willingness to purchase. Student preferences on delivery format, content style and price were examined using choice activities. Issues raised related to the practical nature of print, price sensitivity, student collaboration and the tradeoffs of current and future learning materials for students. Print textbooks were more popular than e-Books and summary chapters are favoured for ease of information consumption. Pacific Rim editions are favoured over International editions and currency and local relevance are key determinants in the students’ preferences. The ‘authority of print’ and ‘experience’ of purchasing and owning a hardcopy version of a text book are posited as key considerations for students

Nonresponse of native Cottonwood trees to water additions during summer drought

Studies have demonstrated that some riparian trees may switch their reliance on surface soil water (unsaturated or vadose zone) to groundwater (saturated zone) sources during the growing season in association with changes in moisture availability. A closely related question is: How do these trees respond to pulse increases in water availability in previously dry zones? We tested the whole-tree physiological response of 6 natural Populus genotypes to water additions during the peak of summer drought in northern Utah, USA. We found clear evidence that trees were insensitive to water additions to the surface soil that were twice the magnitude of whole-tree transpiration rates. Our results suggest that some cottonwoods may have little immediate transpiration of leaf conductance response to pulse soil moisture increases. This lack of response may be related to water-use strategy associated with regional climate patterns (i.e. genetic or environmental programming), cavitation recovery, or other physical determinants of water use such as depth to groundwater. Our data suggest that it is important to consider potential nonresponsiveness to changes in soil water availability when evaluating the impact of climate change on these important and productive ecosystems

How geographic distance and political ideology interact to influence public perception of unconventional oil / natural gas development

A growing area of research has addressed public perception of unconventional oil and natural gas development via hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”). We extend this research by examining how geographic proximity to such extraction interacts with political ideology to influence issue support. Regression analysis of data from a fall 2013 national telephone survey of United States residents reveals that as respondents’ geographic distance from areas experiencing significant development increases, political ideology becomes more strongly associated with issue support, with the liberal-partisan divide widening. Our findings support construal level theory's central premise: that people use more abstract considerations (like political ideology) the more geographically removed they are from an issue. We discuss implications for studying public opinion of energy development as well as for risk communication

Forest gene diversity is correlated with the composition and function of soil microbial communities

The growing field of community and ecosystem genetics indicates that plant genotype and genotypic variation are important for structuring communities and ecosystem processes. Little is known, however, regarding the effects of stand gene diversity on soil communities and processes under field conditions. Utilizing natural genetic variation occurring in Populus spp. hybrid zones, we tested the hypothesis that stand gene diversity structures soil microbial communities and influences soil nutrient pools. We found significant unimodal patterns relating gene diversity to soil microbial community composition, microbial exoenzyme activity of a carbon‐acquiring enzyme, and availability of soil nitrogen. Multivariate analyses indicate that this pattern is due to the correlation between gene diversity, plant secondary chemistry, and the composition of the microbial community that impacts the availability of soil nitrogen. Together, these data from a natural system indicate that stand gene diversity may affect soil microbial communities and soil processes in ways similar to species diversity (i.e., unimodal patterns). Our results further demonstrate that the effects of plant genetic diversity on other organisms may be mediated by plant functional trait variation.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147191/1/pope0035.pd

Single-atom imaging of fermions in a quantum-gas microscope

Single-atom-resolved detection in optical lattices using quantum-gas microscopes has enabled a new generation of experiments in the field of quantum simulation. Fluorescence imaging of individual atoms has so far been achieved for bosonic species with optical molasses cooling, whereas detection of fermionic alkaline atoms in optical lattices by this method has proven more challenging. Here we demonstrate single-site- and single-atom-resolved fluorescence imaging of fermionic potassium-40 atoms in a quantum-gas microscope setup using electromagnetically-induced-transparency cooling. We detected on average 1000 fluorescence photons from a single atom within 1.5s, while keeping it close to the vibrational ground state of the optical lattice. Our results will enable the study of strongly correlated fermionic quantum systems in optical lattices with resolution at the single-atom level, and give access to observables such as the local entropy distribution and individual defects in fermionic Mott insulators or anti-ferromagnetically ordered phases.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures; Nature Physics, published online 13 July 201

High Resolution Images of Orbital Motion in the Trapezium Cluster: First Scientific Results from the MMT Deformable Secondary Mirror Adaptive Optics System

We present the first scientific images obtained with a deformable secondary mirror adaptive optics system. We utilized the 6.5m MMT AO system to produce high-resolution (FWHM=0.07'') near infrared (1.6 um) images of the young (~1 Myr) Orion Trapezium theta 1 Ori cluster members. A combination of high spatial resolution and high signal to noise allowed the positions of these stars to be measured to within ~0.003'' accuracies. Including previous speckle data (Weigelt et al. 1999), we analyze a six year baseline of high-resolution observations of this cluster. Over this baseline we are sensitive to relative proper motions of only ~0.002''/yr (4.2 km/s at 450 pc). At such sensitivities we detect orbital motion in the very tight theta 1 Ori B2B3 (52 AU separation) and theta 1 Ori A1A2 (94 AU separation) systems. Such motions are consistent with those independently observed by Schertl et al. (2003) with speckle interferometry, giving us confidence that these very small (~0.002''/yr) orbital motions are real. All five members of the theta 1 Ori B system appear likely gravitationally bound. The very lowest mass member of the theta 1 Ori B system (B4) has K' ~11.66 and an estimated mass of ~0.2 Msun. There was very little motion (4+/-15 km/s) detected of B4 w.r.t B1 or B2, hence B4 is possibly part of the theta 1 Ori B group. We suspect that if this very low mass member is physically associated it most likely is in an unstable (non-hierarchical) orbital position and will soon be ejected from the group. The theta 1 Ori B system appears to be a good example of a star formation ``mini-cluster'' which may eject the lowest mass members of the cluster in the near future. This ``ejection'' process could play a major role in the formation of low mass stars and brown dwarfs.Comment: To appear in the December 10, 2003 issue of the Astrophysical Journal 21 pages, 14 figures (some in color, but print OK in B&W

Antibody levels following vaccination against SARS-CoV-2: associations with post-vaccination infection and risk factors

SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels can be used to assess humoral immune responses following SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination, and may predict risk of future infection. From cross-sectional antibody testing of 9,361 individuals from TwinsUK and ALSPAC UK population-based longitudinal studies (jointly in April-May 2021, and TwinsUK only in November 2021-January 2022), we tested associations between antibody levels following vaccination and: (1) SARS-CoV-2 infection following vaccination(s); (2) health, socio-demographic, SARS-CoV-2 infection and SARS-CoV-2 vaccination variables. Within TwinsUK, single-vaccinated individuals with the lowest 20% of anti-Spike antibody levels at initial testing had 3-fold greater odds of SARS-CoV-2 infection over the next six to nine months, compared to the top 20%. In TwinsUK and ALSPAC, individuals identified as at increased risk of COVID-19 complication through the UK "Shielded Patient List" had consistently greater odds (2 to 4-fold) of having antibody levels in the lowest 10%. Third vaccination increased absolute antibody levels for almost all individuals, and reduced relative disparities compared with earlier vaccinations. These findings quantify the association between antibody level and risk of subsequent infection, and support a policy of triple vaccination for the generation of protective antibodies

Concert recording 2017-05-04b

[Track 1]. Fanfare for the common man / Aaron Copland -- [Track 2]. Bach Buch / J.S. Bach translated by Pann -- [Track 3]. Highway musings / Ryan Key -- [Track 4]. Serenade in D minor / Antonín Dvorák